The desirability of incorporating antimicrobial or antibacterial agents into different types of surgical dressings has been evident for some time. Although numerous antimicrobials are available, most of these antimicrobial agents are either not suitable for contact with human skin, or they are very difficult to incorporate into an adhesive composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,628 discloses a film dressing which contains a composition which reacts with water to generate a bacteriostatic substance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,209 discloses a method of applying an antimicrobial to a wound by incorporating an antimicrobial agent into a bioerodible polymer. The polymer may be incorporated into an absorbent carrier for application to the wound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,509 discloses an adhesive composition which contains a polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine complex and which is incorporated into a solvent-based adhesive for application to a flexible backing material to be used on human skin. In order to insure that the antimicrobial will be present on the skin-contact surface of the material, the antimicrobial is uniformly dispersed throughout the adhesive layer of the product.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,557 discloses a process incorporating a solution of an iodide and iodine into a pressure-sensitive adhesive to be used in contact with human skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,043 discloses the incorporation of uniform amounts of silver sulfadiazine as an antimicrobial into an adhesive-coated material. The adhesive is a solvent-based adhesive.
The prior art antimicrobial adhesive products mentioned above require that the antimicrobial be uniformly distributed through the entire adhesive. This requirement insures that the antimicrobial will be available on the skin-contact surface of the adhesive when the product is used.
Commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 707,113 filed Feb. 28, 1985 discloses an antimicrobial dressing in which the antimicrobial, polyhexamethylene biguanide, is in the outer surface of a water based adhesive. This dressing requires the use of a water based adhesive in order to distribute the antimicrobial in the outer surface of the adhesive.
A dressing containing an antimicrobial in a more readily available solvent based adhesive and in which a major portion of the antimicrobial would be available on the skin-contact surface and which would not migrate would be advantageous because less antimicrobial would be required and because there would be greater assurance that the antimicrobial would be present on the skin contact surface of the product when the product was put into use.